Where does the word ghouls come from? Before it came to be applied to any random sicko or serial killer it meant went all the way back to the medieval Arabic ghul...it will dig up graves to eat the dead.

Contents

History

Ghouls are creatures that traditionally feed on the the dead, though some have been known to feed on living humans. They can only be killed by decapitation or the destruction of their heads. They can shapeshift, appearing human by taking the form of the last person they ate. Ghouls are unaffected by silver or holy water.

Characteristics

Powers and Abilities

They can take on the form of the person they have fed on.

Weakness

Decapitation

Extreme head trauma

Episodes

I should have known. It was the fresh kills that threw me. Ghouls don't usually go after the living. See, you're just filthy scavengers, feeding off the dead—taking the form of the last corpse you choke down.

Two offspring of a ghoul killed by John Winchester lure Sam and Dean to their town in order to take revenge. They take on the forms of Adam and his mother Kate Milligan, an old "girlfriend" of John's. Both are killed by Dean: the Kate ghoul is decapitated by a shotgun blast and Dean bashes in the brains of the Adam ghoul.

Ghouls are revealed to be one of the five monsters families running Chicago. When it appears war may break out between the shapeshifter and werewolf families over the death of Sal Lassiter. Margo Lassiter asks Freddie Costa if the ghouls plan to back the Lassiters, for which Costa tells her there is some trepidation on their part over Margo's proposed leadership of the shapeshifters.

Ghouls in Lore

A ghoul is an undead supernatural being originating from Arabian folklore. A ghoul or ghūl (which translated from Arabic means "demon"), is known to inhabit cemeteries or other types burial grounds; in lore they are known for preying on young children, drinking blood, stealing coins, and most famously consuming the flesh of the dead. It's in eating the dead they are able to then assume the identity/form of the deceased. In some lore, ghouls are not dissimilar to zombies, being corpses re-animated by witches or demons that can be commanded. Like zombies, the typical method for dispatching a ghoul is to destroy their brains.